Oct 2, 2013

Backyard Explorer Workshop & Bug Catch

We are having a workshop and bug catch at Franke Scrub, Highfields on Saturday 12
October, from 9.30am till 5.30pm.
There is no cost.
BYO lunch and refreshments.

We commence at Franke Scrub and the adjoining
property, from 9.30am to 12.30 then move to St Anne’s Church Hall, cnr
Highfields and Kuhls Roads, Highfields from1.30 to approximately 5.30pm.

Those who wish to continue, will return to
Franke Scrub in the evening.

WHO CAN ATTEND?

“Backyard Explorer” local attendees can
include any community members interested in monitoring the environment using
insects. This would include private individuals, members of local wildlife
organisations, teachers, council representatives, property owners, etc

No specialist qualifications or knowledge
are needed. Members of the public will be given some simple instructions on how
to complete a biodiversity assessment by collecting insects using various
scientific methods, and how to sort them into their orders.

This is an activity for adults, though
older school students with a particular interest in insects will be considered,
provided they are prepared to continue helping to sort the insect catch till
5.30pm.

“BugCatch” attendees will include members
of the Entomological Society of Queensland, Students from the University of Queensland, and
Representatives of DEHP.

NUMBERS ARE LIMITED. Register soon to be
sure of a place

TO REGISTER Contacttoowoombaplants@gmail.com

WHAT IS IT FOR?

The “Bug-Catch” program is a series of
collecting trips run by the Entomological Society of Queensland, in conjunction
with the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, to compile lists of
invertebrates in various areas of value. This one will assist the Friends of
Franke Scrub with their project to record wildlife at the Scrub, as a benchmark
for future monitoring of environmental changes and as an indicator of the
insects found in our local natural environments.

The Backyard Explorer workshop run by the Queensland Museum will provide the Friends of
Franke Scrub with baseline information on insects in the scrub, and skills for
future monitoring of environmental changes.

WHAT GOES ON?

Morning:9.30 am. Sign on.

Malaise traps, pitfall traps, and coloured
pans will be set up beforehand in two sites, and those and sweep netting and
beating samples will be collected by Backyard Explorer participants during the
morning. Sweep netting, beating, bark spraying, hand searching, flight
intercept traps, and baited pitfall traps will also be used. BugCatch
participants will continue to collect insects throughout the day.

Afternoon: 1.30pm. A Powerpoint talk will
teach Backyard Explorer participants some interesting insect facts, including
how to sort insects into their various orders. We will then work in pairs or
small groups to sort the morning’s catch. Plenty of expert help will be
available during the process, so there is no need to be concerned that the
tasks will be beyond the scope of the interested amateur.

You are responsible for all your own food
and drink (except for free tea and coffee, to be provided by the Friends of
Franke Scrub in the hall in the afternoon. Cold soft drinks will also be sold
at the hall, and tap water is available). There is no drinkable water at Franke
Scrub. There are takeaway venues (Macdonald's, Pizza, Subway etc.), bakery and
supermarket at a nearby shopping centre, and various coffee shops and
restaurants at Highfields (4 km away).

Peacehaven Botanic
Park at 56 Kuhls Road
Highfields (between Franke Scrub and the hall) is close and good for BYO picnics for lunch and tea. It has a public barbecue. You
might like to pack a folding chair or picnic rug, as there's limited seating at
Peacehaven.

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Where is Franke Scrub?

From Toowoomba, follow signs which take you north out of the city on the New England Highway towards Crows Nest. On reaching Highfields, (a little over 4 k from Blue Mountain Heights), turn left at the traffic lights into Cawdor Road. After approx. 1.6k, turn left into Cawdor Drive, then after approx. 2.2k, turn right into FrankeRoad. Continue off the end of the bitumen for several hundred metres. The dirt road is suitable for ordinary 2-wheel drive vehicles and there is room to park on the other side of the Scrub.

Contact

About Franke Road remnant scrub

A council road reserve protected by legislation which prevents clearing of road reserves. It is a length of deep creek bed with a diverse flora of old-growth dry rainforest trees and shrubs including the threatened Tarenna tree Tarenna cameronii and uncommon Orangebark tree Maytenus disperma.Euphorbiaceae and Sapindaceae dominate the vegetation.As a good remnant of the dry rainforest scrub which covered a lot of this area before closer settlement, Crows Nest Council received Natural Heritage Trust funding for its protection in 2006.